Italian pasta recipes are popular around the world. And yes, even in Italy, spaghetti is a favorite! Here’s PIATTO™’s rundown of Italy’s best Italian spaghetti recipes.
Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe
A traditional pasta recipe in Italy, Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe is considered a pillar of Roman cuisine. If you’ve failed before with clumpy cheese sauce, no worries. With only traditional ingredients and our step-by-step instructions, your sauce will turn out creamy and delicious. It’s so easy once you know the secret!
#2 Spaghetti alla Gricia
This is one of the four pillars of Roman Pasta—yet a lesser known traditional Italian Pasta recipe! Like Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe, this dish has a creamy pecorino sauce. Like Spaghetti Amatriciana, it features crispy guanciale. What’s not to love?
#3 Spaghetti Aglio e Olio
Spaghetti Aglio e Olio is one of the easiest Italian pasta recipes to make at home. However, this simple dish can vary a lot in terms of taste and texture, depending on how it is prepared and what optional ingredients are added. Check out our popular creamy Spaghetti Aglio e Olio recipe with red chili pepper!
#4 Spaghetti alla Nerano
The secret ingredient in this cheesy provolone pasta dish from Nerano (near Naples) is fried zucchini! The fried zucchini lends a uniquely delicious and earthy flavor to the pasta sauce that the spaghetti is finished in.
Watch the video recipe above!
#5 Spaghetti all’Assassina
The so-called ‘Killer Spaghetti‘ (Assassin’s Spaghetti) is a relatively modern traditional recipe from Bari, Italy. It is not a simple re-fried tomato spaghetti! Instead, it is an intensely flavored pasta that is fried and then slowly cooked in a tomato broth—much like a risotto.
And yes, a few browned and crispy noodles are expected in the final dish! It’s considered sfiziosa —much like the crispy parts of lasagna.
#6 Spaghetti allo Scoglio (Seafood Spaghetti Recipe)
Italian pasta recipes with seafood or shellfish are quite popular in Italy! This particular recipe (which literally translates to ‘Spaghetti on the Rock’) is literally a seafood extravaganza! With shrimp, calamari, mussels and clams—it’s a seafood lover’s dream! This Seafood Pasta recipe is perfect for special occasions like La Vigilia (Christmas Eve) when seafood is traditional.
#7 Spaghetti all’Amatriciana
Another famous Roman dish, this Pasta Amatriciana recipe features guanciale, tomato and pecorino romano cheese!
#8 Spaghetti Carbonara
Spaghetti Carbonara is one of Rome’s best Italian spaghetti recipes. The Spaghetti Carbonara recipe considered ‘traditional’ in Italy today has just a few ingredients: egg, guanciale, pecorino cheese, black pepper and pasta!
But.. what about the cream and the bacon? There are indeed some legendary Carbonara recipes that arguably did have cream (and bacon), depending on which origin story for this dish you believe. Keep reading to learn about the WWII Carbonara… Until then, you’ll want to check out the recipe that most Italians today agree is authentic:
#9 Spaghetti Carbonara with Cream and Bacon
In Italy, many Italians enjoy discovering the ‘ricetta originale’ for their favorite Italian dishes. This might mean ‘traditional’ or literally ‘original recipe’ (in other words, ‘first recipe’) depending on who is asking.
While Spaghetti Carbonara with Cream and Bacon is not (repeat NOT) considered the traditional recipe for this dish today, it may very well be the ‘first’ recipe for the Carbonara—if one of this dish’s origin stories are to be believed. Discover the WWII Carbonara recipe on our website:
#10 Spaghetti with Mussels and Tomatoes
Seafood pasta recipes are quite popular in Italy, and this Pasta with Mussels and Tomatoes is both delicious and economical! Unlike clams, mussels do not need tend to be filled with sand. That means mussels require less prep.
Leave a comment!
Have you ever heard of any of these traditional Italian spaghetti recipes? Which one do you want to try? Let us know in the comments!
It’s wonderful to know that pasta dishes made with seafood or shellfish are very well-liked in Italy, and one dish, aptly titled “Spaghetti on the Rock,” is a seafood bonanza. We really adore a good tomato caprese, so I definitely hope the authentic Italian restaurant my partner and I can locate has that on their menu! We decided that dining at an Italian restaurant would be the perfect way to celebrate our first wedding anniversary next week since we both miss our honeymoon in Italy. I appreciate the advice.